


A Story To Tell Our Kids

by velvetjinx



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on a True Story, Fluff, M/M, love at first concussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 22:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12068100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: Steve Rogers has had a string of truly terrible blind dates, but this one seems to be going well. Surely nothing can go wrong?





	A Story To Tell Our Kids

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a "terrible things that happened on first dates" article on knowable. This was #7 and it tickled my fancy. 
> 
> Thanks to ediblecrayon for the cheerleading.

Steve looked in the mirror, hands shaking slightly as he did up the buttons on his shirt. He wasn't a fan of blind dates as a rule, because they always made him this nervous--mostly because some of them had been complete, unmitigated disasters. 

Like the guy who had turned up in a vicar’s outfit and proceeded to lecture him on the wages of sin and lusts of the flesh for the entire meal. Or the guy who turned up his nose at Steve ordering steak, then immediately asked the waiter to make him a _vegan omelette_. Or that one girl, where the first words out of her mouth were: “You're bisexual, right? That's awesome, because me and my boyfriend were wondering if you'd have a threesome with us!”

Obviously these were the worst ones, but the rest hadn't been much better. You'd have thought he'd have learned not to go on blind dates by now. But his friends were so caring and thoughtful to even bother that he always felt bad about saying no. 

Steve combed his fingers through his hair, putting some errant bits back in place, and nodded at his reflection. Presentable. 

He was meeting this guy--Bucky, his name was, and what a name--at a restaurant he knew well, so at least he'd be in his comfort zone. 

When he arrived, he smiled at the waitress at the door. 

“Hi, I'm here to meet someone? Table booked under the name of Steve Rogers?”

The waitress nodded, returning the smile. “Yes, he's already arrived. If you'll follow me?”

“He hasn't been waiting long, has he?”

“No, no,” the waitress reassured him. “Only about five minutes.”

As they walked towards a secluded table at the back, the guy sitting there stood up, and Steve felt his mouth go dry. Bucky--if that was Bucky--was gorgeous. Long brown hair pulled back into a bun with a few wisps framing his face, blue-grey eyes like a stormy sea, high cheekbones, and a sharp jawline. He sported a small amount of stubble, and his lips were full and pink. He also looked to be well muscled underneath his black shirt, and Steve bit back a whimper when he took a step forward. 

“Steve?” he said with a smile that lit up his whole face. Steve could see small, endearing crinkles at the corners of his eyes. “I'm Bucky.”

“Hey, Bucky.” Steve extended his hand, and Bucky took it and shook it in a warm, firm grip. “Nice to meet you.”

They took their seats, and there was a moment of awkward silence as Steve cast about for a neutral conversation topic. 

“So, uh,” Bucky said after they had ordered their drinks, “Natasha tells me you're a graphics artist?”

Steve nodded. “To pay the bills, yeah. I also do portraits and teach a life drawing class.”

“Life drawing? Interesting.” Bucky's tone was mild, but his gaze was teasing, and Steve grinned. 

“Yes, I spend a lot of time around naked models. You'd be surprised how quickly they become just part of the furniture, though.”

“Hmm,” Bucky hummed thoughtfully. “And your students? Do they feel the same?”

“Yeah, I mean, eventually. If they've never taken a life drawing class before then they can get kinda embarrassed at first, but you do get over that surprisingly quickly. Especially because you're concentrating on drawing them.” Steve paused as their drinks were put in front of them and they ordered their food, and took a sip of his. “So what is it that you do?”

“I'm a professor at NYU. Theoretical physics. Technically I'm ‘Doctor Bucky Barnes’.”

“You have a doctorate?”

“Uh. Two, actually. One in theoretical physics and one in pure mathematics.”

“Wow.” Steve couldn't help but be impressed. “You must be really smart.”

Bucky shrugged, blushing slightly. “I just really like equations. I'm kind of a massive nerd.”

“Nerd is good,” Steve replied with a smile. “Do you dress up and go to Comicon?”

“It's called _cosplaying_ ,” Bucky said, frowning. Steve was about to apologize when Bucky suddenly cracked up. “Sorry, Steve. Yeah, I've been known to cosplay, but I don't take it _that_ seriously.”

“So what have you cosplayed as?”

“Uh, various. When my hair was shorter I used to cosplay Han Solo, that was pretty cool.”

Steve, who'd had a massive crush on Han Solo growing up, swallowed. “Wow. Any pictures?”

Bucky smirked. “Those kinds of photos don't come out until at least the second date.”

“So what do you think my chances are of seeing them?”

Bucky took a sip of his beer. “I'd say they're looking better and better.”

Steve couldn't help but smile at that, as the waiter served up their food. They both tucked in, and there were a few minutes of silence as they both savored their food. 

“So have you always been able to draw?” Bucky asked at length. 

Steve nodded. “Pretty much been drawing since I could hold a pencil. I was always practicing, and by the time I was in high school I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career.” He took a sip of beer. “What about you? When did you decide on a career in academia?”

“I don't know that I ever did,” Bucky replied, laughing. “I double majored in pure math and theoretical physics for my undergraduate, and then I couldn't decide which I wanted to do a doctorate in, so I ended up doing both. By the time I'd finished my second one I was comfortable at the university so I got a full time teaching position at whichever department would have me.”

Steve grinned. He really liked Bucky, a lot. Speaking of…

“So, Bucky. That's an unusual name.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Uh, yeah, well, it's not really my name, it's just what everyone has called me since I was a kid. My full name is James Buchanan Barnes, but no one calls me James. Except my ma, and then I know I'm in trouble.”

“So where did you grow up?”

“Brooklyn born and raised.”

“Me too!” Steve said, eyes wide. “Your parents still live local?”

“Mhm. What about yours?”

Steve shrugged. “My dad died when I was a little kid, and my mom passed away when I was nineteen. I've been on my own since then.”

Bucky's gaze softened. “God, Steve, I'm sorry.”

“It's fine, honestly. I mean, it sucks, but it was a long time ago.”

“How old are you now, if you don't mind me asking?”

“Twenty nine in July.”

“Hmm,” Bucky hummed. “Just over a year younger than me, then. I was thirty in March.”

“Aah,” Steve said, nodding sagely, “so you're old.”

Bucky threw a piece of broccoli at him. 

***

By the time the check came, Steve felt like he'd known Bucky forever. They were getting on like nothing Steve had ever experienced before--certainly not on any of his previous disastrous blind dates. They split the check between them, and walked out into the warm spring air. 

“Which way are you?” Bucky asked, and Steve pointed. “Me too. Wanna walk together?”

Steve gave him a long look. “What would you do if I said no? Of course I wanna walk with you.”

Bucky looked delighted, and they set off. They were in the middle of a very involved conversation about whether the Incredible Hulk or Andre the Giant would win in hand to hand combat when Steve realized that Bucky was veering off in a different direction from him as they passed Mt Sinai. 

“I, uh. I go this way now,” Steve said slowly. 

“Oh. My apartment is that way.” Bucky paused. “So, uh, I had a really great time tonight.”

“Me too,” Steve replied, inching closer to Bucky. 

Bucky smiled and cupped Steve's cheek in his palm, then leaned in and kissed him softly. Steve responded, kissing him back, and the kiss deepened. 

Suddenly Bucky grabbed him, swinging him around and tipping him backwards. Instead of holding him up, however, Steve felt himself slipping from Bucky's grasp. There was a moment of pain as his head hit the sidewalk, then darkness. 

***

Steve blinked his eyes open. Bright. And his head hurt. Where was he?

“Steve?” a groggy voice said from beside him, and Steve tried to turn his head, but there was more pain. Someone leaned over him, and he managed to focus his eyes enough to see who it was. 

“Bucky?”

Bucky smiled, looking relieved. “Hey, Steve. You had me kinda worried there.”

“Wha’ happened?” Steve asked blearily. 

Bucky looked chagrined. “So, uh, kinda embarrassing, but we were kissing, and I thought I'd dip you, like in those old movies? Because it was romantic, I guess. But I, uh, might have misjudged and dropped you.”

“You dropped me.”

“Yeah. I tried to catch you, but because of the angle I broke my finger.” Bucky held up his hand, and Steve could see it was bandaged up. 

The door opened and a nurse bustled in. “Hello, Mr Rogers, Mr Barnes. Good to see you back with us, Mr Rogers.”

“Thanks. Where are we?”

“Mt Sinai hospital. Luckily you were right outside when the, um.” The nurse looked as though she was trying not to laugh. “When the incident occurred. Mr Barnes carried you inside to the ER but since you were unconscious we had to transfer you to a room on the ward.”

“Can I leave?” Steve asked. Hospitals weren't his favorite place, having watched his mother waste away in one. 

“Not yet. You've got a concussion and we want to keep an eye on you. You hit that sidewalk pretty hard.”

“‘M sorry,” Bucky mumbled, looking so dejected that Steve had to smile. 

“Hey, it's fine. We were having a good time until you dropped me, right?”

“Yeah. And I really want to make it up to you when you get out of here. I can cook for you, if you want?”

Bucky's expression had turned hopeful, and Steve squeezed his uninjured hand. 

“Yeah. I'd like that a lot.”

The nurse cleared her throat. “Well, this is all very lovely, but can I see to my patient now?”

Bucky flushed and nodded, scooting back from the bed to let the nurse in. She shone a light into Steve's eyes and took his pulse, then asked him a few questions which he answered readily. 

“Well, I think you're going to be fine,” the nurse said briskly. “You don't seem to have any memory loss, which is good, although you're still showing signs of concussion so we're going to have to keep you in a couple of days.”

Steve sighed. “Bucky, can you please get in touch with Natasha and let her know I'm in here? She'll be able to call my boss and let him know I'm gonna be off work a couple of days.”

Bucky nodded, his face falling. “I'm so, so sorry about this, Steve.”

“Hey.” Steve tucked an errant bit of hair behind Bucky's ear. “Don't worry about it. I mean, it wasn't exactly the end to the night I'd envisioned, but it makes for a good story to tell people.”

Bucky smiled, then leaned in and kissed Steve gently. “I'll be back later. I've got to take a class at eleven, then another at two, but I'll be back after.”

“Okay.”

Steve watched Bucky go. When he had left, the nurse turned to Steve, eyebrow raised. 

“How many dates have you had?”

“Last night was our first.”

“Hmm.” The nurse looked amused. “Invite me to the wedding, will you?”

Steve blushed. 

***

“And that's how daddy and papa met,” Steve concluded, tucking the blankets tighter around Carly and David as they lay in their beds listening to Steve's tale, enraptured. 

“So wait. You fell in love with papa because he gave you _concussion_?” Carly’s tone was incredulous. 

“Well. That wasn't the only reason,” Steve replied with a laugh. “But it all kind of spiraled from there. Two years later we got married, and then two years after that we adopted you both.” He kissed the kids on their foreheads. “Now, time for sleep. Goodnight. Love you.”

“Love you, daddy,” the children chorused, and Steve switched off the light, leaving the nightlight to illuminate the room, and closed the door behind him. 

He joined his husband in the living room, and Bucky met him with a glass of wine. 

“Kids all tucked up?”

Steve kissed Bucky gently. “Yup. They wanted to hear the story of how we met.”

Bucky's eyes widened. “Did you tell them?”

“Of course.”

“Love at first concussion,” Bucky said with a grin, and Steve laughed. 

“Pretty much.”

Bucky kissed him again, and Steve smiled into it. Sometimes he couldn't believe how lucky he'd gotten. 

One day when the kids were older he might even tell them about his disastrous blind dates before he'd met Bucky. But for now, it was nice for them to see the beauty of fate that had brought their parents together. 

As Bucky smiled at him, Steve could see that beauty too, and intended to never take it for granted.


End file.
